


Ring Of Keys

by TrueMeg



Category: Shadowhunters (TV), The Shadowhunter Chronicles - All Media Types
Genre: Acceptance, Alec Lightwood Deserves Nice Things, Bad Parent Maryse Lightwood, Bad Parent Robert Lightwood, Don’t copy to another site, Eventual Fluff, Gay Pride, Happy Ending, Happy Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood, Identity, Insecure Alec Lightwood, Inspired by Fun Home, Introspection, Kid Fic, M/M, Married Couple, Musical References, One Shot, POV Alec, Pride, Realization, Self-Acceptance, Song Lyrics, Song fic, Song: Ring of Keys (Fun Home), kid!alec
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-02
Updated: 2019-06-02
Packaged: 2020-04-06 21:05:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,635
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19070665
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TrueMeg/pseuds/TrueMeg
Summary: A stranger walks into the Institute and eleven-year-old Alec Lightwood is immediately captivated. And thinks through his sense of identity.Or, Alec has a "Ring of Keys" moment. A songfic, based on Ring of Keys from the musical Fun Home."I thought it was supposed to be wrong, but you seem okay with being strong. I want...you're so... It's probably conceited to say, but I think we're alike in a certain way..."





	Ring Of Keys

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Pride Month!
> 
> This fic is based on the song Ring of Keys from the musical Fun Home

 

**Small Alec**

“Alexander, will you  _ please _ quit this nonsense? We’re about to have a meeting with a guest and we can’t have you running around like this in the middle of it.”

Alec felt his mother’s snap deep inside his stomach, something that immediately made him halt and curl in his shoulders.   Beside him, his little sister had stopped too, the giggle on her lips fading out. In the corner of his eye he saw Jace shifting his weight from foot to foot, heeding Maryse’s order though eagerly awaiting getting back into some kind of action as soon as possible.

“Sorry mom,” Alec mumbled out. Next to his mother, Alec vaguely heard his father mumble something about “he’s eleven, he shouldn’t be this childish anymore” and “learning some responsibility if he’s the oldest child.”

Alec started playing with his fingers. He wanted to say that Jace and Izzy were running around just as much as he was. They started it, in fact. But he’d learned better by now. Their parents didn’t care who started it or anything like that. They cared that Alec was the oldest, therefore responsible for everything. They didn’t care that Alec and his siblings had spent the last week cooped up in the Institute, training and studying until their minds were numb. 

Maryse sighed, calming her voice significantly from her outburst seconds ago. “Kids, please head back to your rooms or to the training room with Hodge. We can’t have you running around up here.”

Jace tapped Alec on the shoulder. “Let’s go Alec.” Izzy and Jace disappeared from his sides, heading for the door in the back of the ops center. Alec hesitated for a moment before finally turning around to join them. 

To his left, the elevator doors opened, and Alec stopped on the spot. 

_ You didn’t notice him at first but I saw him the minute he walked in _ …

Alec slowly turned on his spot, following as the man stepped out of the elevator and sauntered into the middle of the ops center. Like every step he took was more ownership over the place.

He wasn’t a shadowhunter, Alec knew that much. Besides the lack of any visible runes peeking out from his clothing, he’d never seen a shadowhunter present themselves like this. The man had his hair spiked up, with purple streaks standing out in a surprising stark contrast to his dark hair. His red jacket had swirls of almost floral-looking designs on it, designs that Alec noticed shimmered under the fluorescent lighting above. The chains hanging from his dark pants gave a faint jingle as he walked.

Alec’s eyes trailed back up, asking himself how it was even practical for someone to wear so many rings on their hands at once and then noticing...was that eyeliner on his face? Alec knew next to nothing about makeup, but knew enough to know it was something his sister and mother would talk about sometimes. Never a guy.

_ Someone just came in the door, like no one I ever saw before… _

Alec couldn’t pull his eyes away from this man. He’d never seen someone in such a forward and ostentatious presence. He was used to seeing shadowhunters at the Institute in the varying degrees of neutral, dark, and cool colors. This man was dressed to stand out, make a statement. And he very much did. The clothing, combined with the confident way he walked into the Institute when he wasn’t a shadowhunter…

Alec found himself intrigued. 

_ I thought it was supposed to be wrong, but you seem okay with being strong… _

This wasn’t normal. Guys weren’t supposed to be like this right? Alec vividly remembered being chastised a few years ago when one of his shirts had been dyed pink in the laundry, and he didn’t bother changing it before going down to eat lunch. What did it matter that it was pink? It was just a color, right? It was still a good shirt and the fabric was really soft. But he’d gotten a swift and stern quip from his dad to go change immediately, and that he was a boy and boys don’t wear that color. It wasn’t a man’s color. 

And yet here this guy was, walking into the Institute wearing all these bright colors, glimmering accessories, and a girl’s color in his hair. And the confidence exuded from the man’s face. 

Alec, biting the inside of his cheek and rubbing at the tips of his fingers,  felt a slow swelling in his chest. 

_ I want….you’re so…. _

A small smile started pulling at Alec’s lips. His eyes were still locked on the man as he walked right up to Alec’s parents. This must’ve been the important meeting they were talking about. A guy dressed like this was the important person his parents were waiting for. 

_ It’s probably conceited to say... _

I want that, Alec thought. Only to quickly shove the thought from his mind as his eyes finally glanced away. He couldn’t think that. It was selfish to think that Alec wanted that for himself right? The unabashed and confident way he walked in, owning himself with every fiber of his being…

Yet Alec found it fascinating, as his eyes trailed back up to the man. In that moment, he let himself think it wasn’t wrong to present this way, and be confident in it. 

_ But I think we’re alike, in a certain way… _

These few seconds felt stretched out over several long moments, while Alec waded in these strange thoughts of want and connection to this strange man. A strange extension emulating from Alec toward this man several feet away from him, who hadn’t even paid Alec any attention as he walked in. This feeling slipping around the other shadowhunters milling around the ops center. And none of them in Alec’s path paid this man any attention either, how was that possible?

_ Do you feel my heart, saying hi? _

He wanted to go closer, maybe listen on the conversation, and hear any drop of the man’s voice. Just to be in his presence. 

Something itched at Alec’s mind. He knew what this meant. He’d overheard others’ stifled conversations and hissing tones over this. And Alec’s aversion to the conversation as a whole, combined with the need Alec always felt to cower away when the others spoke harshly of people like this...It meant something…

It clicked.

“ _ I know you _ ,” Alec said.

He thought he’d mumbled it to himself. But in half a second, the man’s gaze found him, their eyes locking and snapping Alec out of his reverie. Suddenly Alec’s thoughts were a jumble, his mouth poised to say something but nothing coming out. 

“I don’t believe we’ve met,” the man said. Of course they hadn’t met. This man was an adult, in his twenties, but Alec briefly remembered that he could have been one of the immortal ones. And Alec was just a kid. But that’s not what Alec had meant, really...

“Alec.” It was his mother, forcing Alec to tear his gaze away. “I told you to go. Go find your brother and sister.”

Alec stole one last glance, the small moment to take in this last look of the man before he turned to leave the ops center, this time for good. 

Maybe something about this went against what others talked about or how they presented themselves, but Alec kept those thoughts of that man and that presence with him. Tucked away for now.

-

**Alec**

Alec leaned against the railing of the balcony, watching the sun set an array of colors over the Manhattan skyline. A few blocks away, he could still hear the heavy bass of that music that had been playing nearly non-stop all day. And right from his spot, he could still see the last few crowds of people, still taking as much of the last bits of the celebration as they could. 

From here too, Alec could still see the rainbows most of the crowd was sporting. 

It had been his first time attending Pride. Alec had never been the person to particularly enjoy crowds. And past Pride celebrations had just sounded a lot like big crowds and music that was way too loud. But Magnus insisted they go, and Alec found himself wholeheartedly agreeing. 

He’d been swept up right from the start in the energy of it. The music and the crowd welcomed Alec with open arms. He saw thousands of people, even some of his friends: mundanes, Downworlders, even fellow shadowhunters joining in or showing their support. 

Alec’s hand was confidently clasped in Magnus’ the whole day, his wedding ring securely on his finger. He’d proudly wore that little rainbow flag brightly painted on his face. He walked around those Brooklyn streets today owning every single bit of the day and himself.

Alec heard the footsteps behind him right before his husband’s arms slipped around his waist, Alec back flushing right up against Magnus’ chest. 

“Did you have fun today?” Magnus asked.

Alec nodded. It had taken so long for Alec to realize how much he wanted this, how much he needed this. He’d taken steps over the last few years to finally let himself out, and today felt like a huge part of that fulfillment he’d been trying to find for himself had let itself in. One more step of leading his life forward as himself.  Less and less room for the shyness, and the hiding. No more.

And he knew how much Magnus had been an influence in that.

_ “I know you,” _ Alec murmured. He realized Magnus might find that statement odd. Off the bat, of course they knew each other, they were married.

But he felt Magnus close in and press a kiss to Alec’s cheek. No explanation needed between them.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Again, the song this fic is based on is Ring of Keys from the musical Fun Home. I highly recommend listening to it (especially the performance from the 2015 Tony Awards, you can easily find that on YouTube). Fun Home is based on the autobiographical novel of the same name by Alison Bechdel (which I also recommend).
> 
> The title is obviously taken from the title of the song. The italic phrases are lyrics from the song, so I do not claim them in any way (two pronouns were changed to fit the story). The “Small Alec” versus “Alec” is also a reference to the parts in the musical.  
> (Just trying to cover all of my credit-given-where-credit-is-due bases here!)
> 
> Find me on twitter @true_lightwood and tumblr @truelightwood


End file.
